Electrical steam-whistle installation for boats



m H W W W Film! Feb. 16. 1.920

atentedltlov. W

i i .1: it wil FRANK L. SAUNDERS,

OF ASHTABULA, OHIO.

.;EL ECTRICAIJ STEAM-WHISTLE INSTALLATION FOR BOATS.

Application filed February 16, 1920. Serial No. 359,017.

it provide electrically operated means for blowing the main whistle ofsteam vessels of all classes wherein electricity is installed, and theseveralparts are adapted to be so arranged and connected up as tooperate any i make of whistle valve without interfering in any way withthe hand blowing mech-' anism. In detail, the invention comprises meanswhereby the whistle may be made to blow any length of blasts and inanynum tt her, as may be required, by simply pressing a push button in thepilot house, the same as anyone would do to-ring an electric bell, or,in case a ship is navigating in fog, the switch may be thrown 'onto whatis termed the automatic and the Whistle will continue to blow thefog'signals as required by the U. S. Steamboat Inspection Service untilthe switch is snapped olf. In thick fog a vessel under way is requiredby law to sound three distinct blasts of her whistle at intervals of notmore than one minute, for the Great Lakes. On the ocean they arerequired to sound one distinct blast of not'less than five secondsduration at intervals of not he more than one minute. This device willoperate the same on ocean vessels as on' the Great Lakes by using only asingle contact bar in the contact wheel of theproper length" instead ofthe three bars used in contact an wheels for Great Lakes service.

There is also an electric lightfin the installation which is connectedup in series with a rela switch coil, and will light whenever thew istlestarts to blow and will go out automatically as soon as the whistleceases blowing. This light is an aid to boats navigating at night whenit is too dark to see the steam from the whistle of another boat when itis being blown. WVhenever a an boat equipped with this device is incompany with other. boats. at night which are meeting still more boatsit is easy for the boats you are meeting to know when your passingsignals have been blown and by at which boat they were blown, thusperhaps avoiding collision.

steam to the whistle.

Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation of-thecontact wheel by which the timeblasts above referred to are determined and of the housing and turningmechanism therewith. Fig. 2 is an elevation of the magnetic switchadapted to be connected up in series with the light orlamps on the pilothouse. Fig. 3 is an elevation of the complete invention largelydiagrammatic but showing the electric whistle controlling mechanism indetail in operating relations and including a solenoid, the magneticswitch disclosed in the'contact wheel shown in.detail in Fig. 1, and thelights on the pilot house,with' the electrical .wires, switches, push'buttons and other parts of a complete outfit, substantially ashereinafter fully described.

Having reference first to the means for blowing the whistle underordinary or normal running conditions, we have the wire connections orpilot circuit-2 extending from one or more conveniently located pushbuttons 6 in the pilot house to the means at or near the stern of theboatfor blowing the whistle to. Thuswires 2 connect with a magneticrelay switch H which is adapted to switch on the electric current infull to a solenoid s over a main line circuit a. Solenoid S is built forheavy duty andhas a pull of pounds, more or less, and as shown herein issupported by bracket 3 on the inside of the boiler house. An actuatedrod 4;. extends from the solenoid through the floor above and'connects"with the horizontal arm of bell crank a. The said connecting rod isprojected through a fixed tube 5 and has a close fitting sleeve 6threaded thereon and slidable" upon said tube and adapted to exchidewater. The bell crankc is pivoted at 7 inan angle on the steam whistlesteam pipe P and is loosely connected by means of a loop 8 with .a lever9 pivoted in bracket 10 on pipe P and adapted to engage the stem 11 ofthe valve 13 in said pipe which controls the The said valve remainsclosed normally as shown in Fig. 5, and lever 9 is held normally out ofengage-- ment with stem 11 and the spiral retracting spring 12 isstretched between the end of the bell crank c and the bracket 10 and itstension op, oses the downward pull of the solenoid w en energized toactuate the whistle or whistle valve. This, however, leaves the saidvalve free to be operated by the pilot by direct mechanical connection,say

a wire running to the arm 14, which is on a bracket pivoted from thehousing of said valve and has a finger adapted to press the valve stem11 inwardly by bearing against the extremity of the lever 9 interveningsaid finger and stem.

Incident to the electrical push-button operation from the pilot house tothe whistle through the solenoid and as a precaution in operating in fogor the like, I provide an automatic fog signal blowing device seen indiagram Fig. 3, and in detail Fig. 1. This device is enclosed in asuitable casing or housing 16 with a. door d at its front and comprisesa contact wheel D and clock work 17 which is electrically connected upin series with electric wires 2. The wheel D is adapted to rotate at apredetermined rate, sayone revolution per minute, and when the switch 21is closed the whistle will operate automatically. Thus wheel D is offibre or other non-conducting material and mounted on the spindle orarbor of the clock, and the wheel is equipped with threeradially-disposed copper contact bars 18 adapted to be engagedsuccessively by the brush 20. Three distinct blasts of the whistle willthen be blown at the requisite intervals as the said wheel. revolves,and one or more of such contactbars 18 can be employed according to theservice desired, and of any desired width according to the length ofblast required. On the Great Lakes, three distinct successive blasts ofnot less than five seconds each are required at intervals of not morethanone minute, while on the ocean one blast of not less than'fiveseconds duration at intervals, of not more than one minute is required.The push buttons 1) and switch 21 are all located within convenientreach of the pilot, and manual or automatic control may be exercisedindependently.

A further element ormedium adapted to be used at night when the blowingof the whistle may not be heard or when several whistles are being blownand confusion exists is the electric flash light 22, which is connectedin parallel with solenoid S and dependent for its illumination uponmagnetic switch H. This flash light is placed in any suitable positionto direct its rays upon the escaping steam when the whistle isflblown sothat the operation of blowing the whistle can be seen, if not heard, bythe pilots of other vessels.

. The magnetic switch is of a well known type used. to switch a heavycurrent by means of a pilot circuit carrying a comparatively smallcurrent. As shown this switch comprises acoil 25, and contacts 27through which the current flows and closes the circuit'a. A separateswitch 29 may be used to place light 22 in the circuit, or to turn itoff in the day time.

Finally, there are two electric lights 33 and 34 shown in circuit 2positioned one above the other on a shaft or column 30 adapted to beplaced on the pilot house and so arranged that one or the other willlight according to the position of the knife switch 32 in the pilothouse. If this switch is thrown to the right it will cut in the upperlamp or light 33, and if thrown to the left the lower light 34 will bein circuit. Thus, if one light would be burned out the other can beimmediately placed in circuit, so that whenever the whistle blows alight will flash from the pilot house for the same interval of time andproduce a visible signal as well as an audible one.

What I claim is: Y 1. In an electrical steam whistle installation forvessels, a solenoid having an operating rod, a protecting housing forsaid solenoid having a tubular guide for said rod,

said guide rod extending to the outside of' said housing, a membersecured to said rod enclosingsaid guide, and a steam whistle contiguousto said housing having a alve and means for connecting said rod to saidvalve.

2. In an electrical steam whistle installation for vessels, a steamwhistle and a valve having a stem, a pivoted arm and a pivoted leverhaving overlapping extremities opposite said stem and co-acting to opensaid valve, a bell crank adapted to actuate said lever and having looseoperable connection with said lever to permit said arm to be operatedindependently of said levers. and electrical means adapted to operatesaid bell crank.

3. In an electrical steam whistle for vessels, a steam whistle and valvetherefor having an exposed stem, a pivoted lever and a pivoted armadapted to co-operate in actuating said stem, a bell crank having a 100connection with said lever and a solenoi and spring, said solenoid a ated to operate said bell crank and said spring adapted to return thebell crank to its original position.

Signed at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga, and State of Ohio, this12th day of February, 1920.

FRANK L. SAUNDERS.

